Goat Island (Auckland)

Goat Island or Te Hāwere-a-Maki[1][2] is a tiny island (approximately 1 hectare or 2.5 acres) in New Zealand located close to the North Island coast, north of Auckland, northeast of Warkworth, and directly west of Little Barrier Island.[3] It is within Cape Rodney-Okakari Point Marine Reserve, New Zealand's first marine reserve.

For other places with the same name, see Goat Island (disambiguation).
Goat Island
Te Hāwere-a-Maki (Māori)
Goat Island, being close to the shore, is a magnet for divers.
Geography
LocationAuckland Region
Coordinates36.2652449°S 174.7978878°E / -36.2652449; 174.7978878
Administration

History
Goat Island, as seen from the beach

The island is spiritually significant to the local Māori tribe, Ngāti Manuhiri, because their ancestral waka (canoe), Moekākara, is said to have landed nearby.

The Cape Rodney-Okakari Point Marine Reserve was established in 1975, making Goat Island and the surrounding waters a protected area.[4] As well as being in a marine reserve, Goat Island is a scenic reserve.[5] The University of Auckland has a research facility at Goat Island known as the Leigh Marine Laboratory headed by Professor John Montgomery. This will form the base for the University's new South Pacific Centre for Marine Science (SPCMS). Prime Minister Helen Clark launched the national and international campaign to raise funds for the SPCMS at Leigh on 21 June 2008.

Takangaroa – another island in the same area – was also once known as "Goat Island".[6]

Flora and fauna

Goat Island and its surrounding area provide the habitat for the endemic beetle species Hyphalus wisei.[7]

See also

References
  1. "Notice of New and Altered Geographic Names, and Altered Crown Protected Area Names, for Ngāti Manuhiri Treaty of Waitangi Settlement 2012". Land Information New Zealand. 20 December 2012. Archived from the original on 12 February 2013. Retrieved 16 March 2013.
  2. "Islands and bays renamed in Maori". stuff.co.nz. 7 June 2011. Retrieved 16 March 2013.
  3. "Place name detail: Goat Island". New Zealand Gazetteer. New Zealand Geographic Board. Retrieved 16 March 2013.
  4. Cameron, Ewen; Hayward, Bruce; Murdoch, Graeme (2008). A Field Guide to Auckland: Exploring the Region's Natural and Historical Heritage. Random House New Zealand. p. 105. ISBN 978-1-86962-1513.
  5. Crown Protected Area Names. Land Information New Zealand.
  6. Harvey, Eveline. "Laws joins online W(h)anganui debate". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 16 October 2021.
  7. Hernando, C.; Ribera, I. (2010). "Limnichidae: Description of a new species from New Caledonia, and checklist of the taxa recorded from the Australian/Pacific Region (Coleoptera)" (PDF). Water beetles of New Caledonia. Part 1: 447. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 August 2017. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.